CH 240

Seiji was rather surprised at Yukari’s appearance.

This was due to the clothes she was wearing. She was wearing rather plain clothes—jeans and a hoodie—and they almost made her seem like a boy.

Honestly speaking, Seiji’s first impression was that it didn’t suit her.

With Yukari’s looks, she still looked great in this, but Seiji felt that it wasn’t as nice as how she looked in her school uniform. He felt that if she wore a dress or skirt, it would look much better on her, even if it was a plain skirt.

Well, this was mostly because her beauty while wearing a school uniform had given him too strong of an impression, which was why he felt such a contrast when he saw her wearing a totally different style.

It was just a momentary lapse, though.

“Hello, Asamiya-san, what a coincidence…” Seiji gestured to the bag of books he was holding. “I purchased a bunch of light novels.”

Yukari’s eyes widened slightly as she looked at the books, and her smile grew even wider.

“Harano-san, do you really like light novels?”

“Er… Yes.”

“I also really like light novels!” she exclaimed gleefully.

Yukari walked closer to Seiji and looked at his face with a sparkle in her eyes.

She was getting a little too close. Seiji could see his own reflection in her eyes and faintly smell the fragrance of her perfume.

“Oh… I see.”

It was somewhat unexpected.

Seiji recalled her mentioning that she didn’t like reading classical novels and that she was different from how she appeared. Despite this, her liking light novels was… rather unexpected.

“I’m here to buy the newest volumes of Reincarnated Golden Eagle , Record of the Demon Sword , and I Can’t Sleep When I’m Sleeping Together with My Younger Sister . Do you happen to like any of these novels, Harano-kun? Or did you buy any of these?”

“Er… I bought all of the above.”

‘And Shika even bought every single volume of I Can’t Sleep When I’m Sleeping Together with My Younger Sister … By the way, even you read such stories!?’

Seiji was even more surprised and didn’t know how to react.

“You bought all of them? That’s wonderful!” Yukari exclaimed, edging closer to Seiji. She was now dangerously close to him.

“I’ve been following these three stories for so long, so it’s great that Harano-san likes them as well! I’d like to chat about these stories with you; is that okay?”

“Sure… it’s okay.” Seiji quietly took a step backwards. “But I just bought them and haven’t finished reading.”

“Then let’s chat about them after you finish reading!” Yukari stared at him with hungry eyes.

“Okay.”

Seiji had no reason to refuse. It was great that he had someone to chat with about his hobbies.

“Then it’s settled! Harano-san, when will you be able to finish reading?”

“Probably… about three or four days.”

“In that case, I’ll contact you then.” Yukari’s smile was quite alluring, and the expression in her eyes seemed rather seductive.

“Mmm, okay.”

Seiji reflexively answered, then he discovered that he was somewhat shaken.

Why did it feel like he’d just agreed to a date? This… would just be a conversation between friends about shared interests, right?

“I’m really looking forward to it~” the purple-haired girl said in a soft voice. She averted her gaze from his face. “That’ll be all then, Harano-san… see you then.”

Yukari began walking off after saying that sentence.

Shika had been watching her all this time. Yukari looked in Shika’s direction, glanced at her, and flashed a friendly smile.

That was the only glance she gave Shika.

From start to finish, she didn’t seem to pay any attention to the black-haired beauty beside Seigo Harano. She didn’t greet her or ask her name; it was as if she didn’t even notice her.

A strange light flashed through Shika’s eyes as she watched the purple-haired girl leave.

‘She’s an… amazing person. She only looks at her target and leaves right after achieving her goal, without doing anything extra or unnecessary. She made no mistakes and did a great job.’

Shika felt as if Yukari was just like a frosty warrior from a novel. Without hesitation, she unsheathed her sword, executed a one-hit-KO combo, sheathed her sword, and walked away in one breath. There was no indecision whatsoever.

“Shika-chan, let’s get going.”

Seiji didn’t pay any attention to the fact that Yukari didn’t react to Shika. It was just a coincidental meeting, and not asking too much seemed normal to him.

“Okay.” Shika stopped looking in Yukari’s direction. “Brother Seiji… who was that person?”

“She’s a girl in the same grade as me but a different class, and her name is Yukari Asamiya.”

Shika’s eyes gleamed. “She… likes Brother Seiji, right?”

“Er… yes, she confessed to me before, but I rejected her politely,” Seiji said awkwardly.

“Why?”

“Because that was the first time I ever met her. I didn’t even know her when she confessed to me.” Seiji smiled wryly. “I’m very grateful for her feelings, and to be honest I was quite moved, but I’m not the type to go out with a girl I just met.”

“You didn’t accept her confession… so you became friends?”

“Yes.”

Shika fell silent.

“Shika-chan… she didn’t pay any attention to you earlier. Are… you angry?” Seiji wondered what was going on.

Shika shook her head.

“I just… feel like she’s an amazing person.”

“Oh… I also think she’s an amazing girl.”

A brief period of silence fell between them.

“Is she going to become my sister-in-law soon?” Shika asked abruptly.

*Cough!* Seiji choked upon hearing this.

“N-no, I-I barely even know her yet…”

“But she seems just like a strong warrior.”

“Eh?”

“Brother Seiji just fell to her attack and couldn’t defend at all.”

“What?”

Just what was she talking about? Seiji was rather confused.

“Brother is too weak to face her.” Shika looked towards her adopted brother. “I… have to become Brother’s shield.”

Seiji was rendered speechless.

From the look of resolution in her eyes, he could tell that his adopted sister seemed to have come to some sort of realization. However, he didn’t know what it was about or what to say.

Afterwards, the two of them toured some shops.

They ate lunch at a rather high-class restaurant, then had fun watching a movie before returning to their apartment.

Back in front of the apartment, they saw Nozomi Uehara cleaning the area with a broom.

“Good afternoon, Miss Landlord.”

“Good afternoon, Harano-kun.”

“Good afternoon…”

Shika greeted Nozomi politely before hiding behind Seiji’s back.

It gave her the appearance of being shy around strangers, but it was actually her way of avoiding Nozomi so that she wouldn’t bring misfortune upon the kind landlord.

Seiji could only smile helplessly.

Right, there was something he wanted to ask the landlord.

Just as he was about to speak up, Nozomi spoke up first.

“Harano-kun, Mika has returned to normal, which is very good, but…” The mature lady was frowning slightly. “Now she’s begun talking to the air, or smiling at nothing at all… what’s going on?”

Seiji’s expression froze over.

‘Mika!’ He restrained himself from covering his face. ‘Be a little more careful, idiot! Don’t let your mother see such a strange sight!’

But even while inwardly commenting on her actions, he smiled on the surface.

“This… I think that Mika is practicing her acting skills.”

“Acting?”

“Yes, we went to see Chiaki’s play yesterday, and she was really moved; it seemed like she was interested in drama club.”

He used what happened to Hoshi on Mika and hoped that it would be enough to convince Mika’s mom.

Nozomi blinked at this. “I see, she’s practicing… that’s wonderful, then. I was worried that…” She heaved a sigh of relief and nodded in understanding.

It seemed that he’d successfully fooled her. Seiji also inwardly heaved a sigh of relief.

He was going to have to give Mika a lecture later!